


The Conscious Slip

by TheSkyIsALie



Series: Affections of the Underworld [6]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: Aged-Up Damian Wayne, Angst and Regret, Demon AU, Demon!Damian, Demon!Dick, Demon!Jason, Feelings, M/M, Romance, student!tim
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-12
Updated: 2018-11-12
Packaged: 2019-08-22 16:08:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16601210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSkyIsALie/pseuds/TheSkyIsALie
Summary: He felt so guilty for not being able to protect Tim from what had happened - remorseful that he couldn’t prove his feelings to the little human if he couldn’t even sheild him from something that had been inevitable from the start.





	The Conscious Slip

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry about the extra wait for this story - though I'm glad I took it, as with the planning time I've had I have gotten everything properly plannned. The next part is going to be a doozy.

“Dickie!” Dick startled from his perch on the arm of the sofa, spinning around to face the frantic Jason that had appeared behind him in his apartment.

“I’ll take it it didn’t go well?” the incubus asked, straightening a little - though the panic on the contract demon’s face worried him.

“He didn’t even wanna _listen_ ta me. I explained as much ta him as I could - but as soon as I was tryin’ ta apologise he wouldn’t even hear it.” Jason rushed out, pacing on the carpeted floor around Dick.

“Where is he now?”

“He ran off. He- he jus’ bolted ‘nd I figured he’d need a minute ta cool off ‘nd clear his head without me hangin’ ‘round him but he di’n’t come _back_ , Dickie, ‘nd now I can’t find him.”

“You can’t sense his soul?” Dick asked, worry growing. Jason shook his head,

“Not even a bit, but our contract’s still intact. ‘Nd now we know Damian’s been lurkin’ on the sidelines for who knows how long - the only thing I can think a’ is that Timmy’s gone back ta _him_.”

“You think Damian’s hiding Tim from you?” Dick clarified, stepping away from Jason to grab his jacket from beside the door. Clearly they would be going out to find Tim - if Jason couldn’t sense the little human’s soul’s whereabouts as he had countless times before then clearly something was amiss.

“That or Timmy’s fallen inta another dimension.” Jason half joked, though no smile met his lips as he watched Dick shrug into his jacket. “Ya gotta go find him, Dickie.” Jason decided, making the incubus pause.

“What? What about you?”

“I ain’t got no more hope a’ findin’ him than you right now - ‘nd if he is with Damian ‘nd the li’l _princling_ ’s upta somethin’ you got a whole lot more chance a’ convincin’ him ta stop than me.” Jason sighed, a little reluctant to admit he was playing a useless role at that moment.

“Damian and I don’t work like that anymore, Jason - you know that.” Dick huffed.

“But ya’ve always been a favourite a’ his. If I barge in on whatever sort a’ plans he’s got it’s only gonna turn inta a fight. You’ve got a chance a’ him actually listening to ya - plus, I don’t think I’m really gonna be the one Timmy wants ta see, right now. He knows what ya are, but I don’t think he’s blamin’ ya fer any a’ this.”

“Alright, Jay.” Dick sighed, bringing a hand up to rest on the elder’s shoulder, squeezing gently in comfort, “Alright, I’ll go find him. Do you think he’s still in Gotham, at least?” If Tim was no longer in the city they essentially had no chance of finding him until Damian decided he wanted to give the little human back - and Dick didn’t even want to think about what that could imply.

“I get the feelin’ my contract’d be weaker than it is if he’d gone too far. I signed myself over ta stay by his side, so if we part too far I’m technically threatenin’ ta break the deal.” Jason ran a hand through his hair, eyes not quite meeting Dick’s. He was worried - stressed and unable to calm himself down, not knowing how to because he’d never felt as he did then in all his years.

Jason was a demon without remorse - he felt nothing for those he bound in contracts and syfened the souls of. Dick had never seen Jason even bat an eye as he watched countless humans destroy themselves with the aid of his powers.

But now, faced with the possibility of Tim getting hurt - the possibility of losing the little human that both the incubus and contract demon had steadily fallen in love with - Jason was feeling emotions he had never experienced before. Emotions he couldn’t even recognise.

Dick stepped up to Jason, tugging the elder down gently and pressing his lips against the other’s.

“I’ll find him, Jay.” he promise, “We’ll get our Timmy back.”

\---

Tim wondered if Damian didn’t realise how fragile humans were or simply didn’t care. He also wondered if the demon was actually asleep behind him or if he was simply in no hurry to move from the bed. Either way, Tim didn’t feel like moving to check - preferring to remain where he lay beneath the expensive bed covers in the quiet of the hotel room.

He ached - hips sore and muscles painful in a way that wouldn’t let them relax, remaining tense and twitchy when he knew he should have woken comfortable and warm. He had been awake for almost an hour - too conscious of Damian’s presence behind him to fall back asleep and so instead getting lost in his own thoughts.

He had already realised he regretted what he had done with Damian - not breaking the contract, per se, but actually sleeping with Damian had been nothing like Tim had hoped. Nothing like what he had felt with Dick or imagined with Jason. And despite the contract now being broken, none of the heaviness to his chest had lightened, though it had taken a great deal of thought before Tim had realised why that was.

Jason no longer had a reason to be with him. Jason had only ever been with Tim because of his soul - and now that Tim’s soul was tarnished, the contract demon would probably never show his face again. And that was what Tim regretted.

Despite how distraught he had been the previous night - despite how angry and betrayed he’d felt and despite everything he’d screamed at Jason about not believing him - because he didn’t - he still didn’t want to lose him. Jason meant so much to Tim and now it was too late because there was no reason for the demon to ever come back.

It was possible he still had Dick. Even Damian had said he could trust an incubus - and if what Jason said about Dick falling for him was true, maybe Dick would stay. But somehow that wasn’t enough to fill the hole that had fallen through in Tim’s chest when he had realised that he’d lost Jason.

Damian shifted behind Tim and the younger jumped a little at the suddenness, almost having forgotten where he was and who he was with.

“You have not gotten up.” Damian stated, looking every part as put together as he had been when Tim had met him in the cafe - nothing like someone who had been sleeping until recently should look. “You should wash.”

Tim sighed. He didn’t really want to move, but he certainly did want to shower, so he pushed the covers off and rolled out of the bed - not bothering to glance back at Damian as he made his way into the bathroom.

Tim took his time in the shower - using the expensive soaps and enjoying the fancy hotel suite as much as he could, figuring it would be the only time he would be somewhere so luxurious in his lifetime. He wrapped himself in one of the provided bathrobes once he was finished, sitting on the closed toilet seat for a moment to rest the aches that had built up from standing in the shower.

He couldn’t hear any movement from beyond the bathroom door, though surely Damian was out of bed by then. With a sigh, Tim stood with only a slight wince, opening the bathroom door to be met by a completely different demon from the one he had left.

“Timmy, baby, tell me you’re okay. Tell me he didn’t hurt you too much.” Dick didn’t seem to be even attempting to hold his tears back, arms wrapping around Tim so tightly - as if trying to reassure himself the little human was truly in front of him again.

“Dick?” Tim asked, reaching up to return the incubus’ hug after only a moment of surprised hesitation. Damian was clearly no where in the hotel suit anymore, as though he had simply swapped places with Dick.

“I’m so _sorry_ , baby. I should have found you sooner. God, Timmy, I’m so sorry.”

“Dick, it’s fine. I’m fine.” Tim tried to sooth, though he was too confused to say much else.

“What happened, baby? Why were you here with him?”Dick asked, finally pulling away from Tim enough to look at him properly. The incubus looked tired, hair a mess with worried tears running down his tanned cheeks and though his skin was as warm as ever his clothes were cold beneath Tim’s fingertips.

“I broke Jason’s contract.” Tim stated, distracted by Dick’s unusually disheveled appearance. Had he been out looking for him? Had he been up all night? Was this the proof Tim needed to know he truly mattered to Dick? “I- I can trust you right, Dick? Jason _and_ Damian said I could trust you, even if I can’t trust them.”

“Always, Timmy. I’m always on your side, I promise. I’m here for you before anyone else.” Dick assured, leaning down to press a soft kiss against Tim’s forehead.

“I slept with Damian - I- I don’t know if you already knew that. He said Jason’s contract would break if I dirtied my soul. I don’t know if-”

“Are you in pain?” Dick interrupted, hands smoothing down Tim’s shoulders as if to physically check the little human over. “Did he hurt you?”

“A- a bit.” Tim admitted, “I ache.”

Dick didn’t waste a second in hoisting Tim up and into his arms, one arm curled beneath the little human’s legs and the other wrapped securely around his back, cradling Tim against his chest as he brought him back over to the bed. Dick sat on the rumpled bed covers, resting Tim down in his lap as he kept his arm around the younger’s back, burying his face into his wet hair.

“I can walk, Dick.” Tim hummed, though he couldn’t even bring himself to feign annoyance as the incubus held him close.

“You shouldn’t have to.” Dick replied, “I shouldn’t have left you with Jason, baby. I should have known you wouldn’t want to listen to everything he said, but I was scared you’d start blaming me, too. Jay was so panicked when he came to me - he couldn’t sense your soul anymore and he knew you wouldn’t want him to go and find you.

“I could feel Damian’s power as soon as I got close enough to the hotel. We figured you’d be with him, but we didn’t know what he was after. I’m sorry that it came to this, Tim. You never deserved to suffer through a thing that’s happened.”

Tim stayed quiet as Dick spoke, holding on to the incubus’ jacket.

“What happens now?” he asked after a long moment of quiet had passed in the hotel suite. He felt better in Dick’s hold, as if the weight of everything could lessen just a bit - though the fact that his entire life had been flipped around couldn’t be ignored.

“I don’t know what Damian’s going to want from you or when he’s going to come after your debt, but we couldn’t run from him, anyway. I don’t know where Jason’s gone, but he’ll at least want to know you’re okay, even if you don’t want to see him. If we-”

“What?” Tim pulled back a little from Dick, the incubus straightening at the little human’s confusion.

“What ‘what’?” he asked.

“Jason, he- he wants to know I’m okay?” Dick nodded slowly at Tim’s question, clearly confused himself.

“Of course, you ran away and he couldn’t even sense where you were. He’s probably been up all night worrying over you.”

“But… my contract’s broken. He can’t have my soul anymore so- why would it matter to him?” Tim’s brow creased in a small frown. Had it not worked? Was his contract with Jason still intact? Was this all for nothing?

“Timmy, didn’t- didn’t Jason tell you how he felt? Didn’t he say he loves you?” Dick asked, and the frantic questions in Tim’s mind ceased. He dropped his gaze, not meeting Dick’s eyes as something akin to guilt pooled in his stomach.

“I didn’t believe him.” He admitted, and Dick sighed.

“He loves you, Timmy - he’d fallen in love before I even showed up looking for him. Jay doesn’t expect you to change your mind about what he’s done, but he’d at least want you to know how much you mean to him.”

“O-oh,” Tim stuttered, suddenly no longer sure of himself. If Jason had been telling the truth then maybe- maybe he’d also been telling the truth about regretting making the deal. Maybe Jason hadn’t been lying when he’d said he wanted to break Tim’s contract, too. “Then- then he’s been worrying since I ran away?”

Dick nodded, smoothing a hand through Tim’s hair as it fell to cover his face. Hot tears pricked at the corners of the younger’s eyes as the guilt Tim had felt at rejecting Jason so harshly sunk even lower to regret.

“And he- he wanted to break the contract too?”

“He did, Timmy, we both did.” Dick nodded again, “We were planning to start looking for help from someone who may have known how to break it with as minor consequences as possible - it would have taken time, but we’d have found a solution. We would have had to.”

“So I didn’t have to sleep with Damian.” Tears spilled over silently, Tim wiping at his cheeks with the sleeve of his bathrobe.

“Do you regret it that much?” Dick asked, brows creased together. It hurt him to see Tim so distressed - caught up in things he shouldn’t have to be a part of. Dick shifted his hold on the little human, cradling Tim just a little closer and pressing a warm kiss to his cheek.

Knowing someone had gotten to Tim first wounded Dick as an incubus - his base instincts saying someone had been faster and gotten to the pray he had been stalking for months. But those were only the base instincts, and Dick’s heart was saying so much more.

He felt so guilty for not being able to protect Tim from what had happened - remorseful that he couldn’t prove his feelings to the little human if he couldn’t even sheild him from something that had been inevitable from the start. He would be neither surprised nor attempt to argue should Tim decide he didn’t believe in Dick’s feeling’s either - they had spent one night together, and if that was all he ever got from the little human, then that was for Tim to decide.

“I don’t know.” Tim sniffed, “I just wish it could have been you.”

And Tim was just so honest, even while so fragile both physically and emotionally. If he truly felt that way about Dick enough to tell him so bluntly, then who was the incubus to deny him anything?

Dick kissed Tim - soft and sweet, gentle enough that Tim could pull back at any moment, though instead the little human melted into it - pressing forward to let Dick deepen the kiss. He held Tim close, one hand in his wet hair and the other rested on his hip as he tried to pour everything he felt for the younger into the kiss.

“I love you.” he stated when they pulled apart so Tim could gasp a breath, the little human’s cheeks flushed and so, so pretty. Tim leant forward - wrapping his arms around Dick’s shoulders and dipping his head down to hide his face in the crook of the incubus’ neck.

“I don’t know what I feel,” he admitted after a moment, “but I think it’s very similar.”

Dick would take Tim home later - he would call Jason and let the younger decide if he was willing to listen to the contract demon’s apology a second time - for now, Tim needed comfort. And they had a huge, luxurious hotel room to do all the comforting they wanted.

**Author's Note:**

> Though I'm making no promises for when the next part will be finished, I'm hoping it'll be in about a week or so's time.
> 
> Visit my Tumblr at the-sky-is-a-lie or come and chat on Discord at #7527


End file.
